Will Oldham, Alan Sparhawk to play this year’s Drone Not Drones

Sponsor

Sponsor

Drone Not Drones has announced the lineup for their third annual event, which will be held at the Cedar Cultural Center from Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. to Feb. 27 at 11 p.m. The lineup features Will Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and a number of local acts — including Alan Sparhawk of Low — and other musicians from around the United States and United Kingdom.

Drone Not Drones is an annual event at the Cedar Cultural Center in which musicians come together to “create a continuous 28-hour drone of unified sound to raise money for Doctors Without Borders,” according to the Facebook event page. The event raises funds to provide medical aid to those affected by the global fight against terrorism.

Last year, event organizer Luke Heiken explained that the first half of the event’s name refers to drone music — a genre categorized as minimalistic with repeated sounds and tones — and the second half of the name refers to the aerial weapon.

The original event was inspired by a comment made by Alan Sparhawk at Rock the Garden 2013: after Low played one long song that constituted their entire — now infamous — set, Sparhawk spoke a few words he’d seen on a t-shirt designed by Heiken. “Drone, not drones.” Sparhawk has played at the Drone Not Drones event every year since its inception.

Heiken said, “On the grand scale, we are not changing the country’s international policies — but we can stand up, enjoy some drone, and say this is not okay.”

Attendees are encouraged to make themselves comfortable at the overnight event by bringing a pillow to relax with. Tickets are now at sale for $20 advance/$30 door.

Below, listen to last year’s complete 28-hour drone.

Sadie Bell, of Wayzata, is a Journalism + Design student at The New School in New York City. She is a staff writer at Local Wolves magazine and an intern at Stereogum.